setTimeout() inside JavaScript Class using "this"

I am trying to use setTimeout() inside a class function in JavaScript. The setTimeout() is supposed to trigger another method in the same Class, so the function I am passing it is written as window.setTimeout("this.anotherMethod", 4000). That bring the problem: this references the calling Object, in the case of setTimeout() it is window. How can I use enclosures to return a reference to the Class Object itself?

myObject = function(){

this.move = function(){
    alert(this + " is running");
}
this.turn = function(){
    alert(this + " is turning");
}
this.wait = function(){
    window.setTimeout("this.run" ,(1000 * randomNumber(1,5)));
}

this.run = function(){
    switch(randomNumber(0,2)){
        case 0:
            this.move();
        break;
        case 1:
            this.turn();
        break;
        case 2:
            this.wait();
    }
}

}

Solution 1:

You can do this:

 var that = this;
 setTimeout(function () {
     that.doStuff();
 }, 4000);

You can also bind for more succinct code (as originally pointed out by @Raynos):

setTimeout(this.doStuff.bind(this), 4000);

bind is a standard library function for exactly this coding pattern (ie capturing this lexically).

Solution 2:

You can also bind a function to scope.

setTimeout(this.run.bind(this) ,(1000 * randomNumber(1,5)));

Be warned Function.prototype.bind is ES5

Solution 3:

this can be problematic in javascript, as you've discovered.

I usually work around this by aliasing this inside the object so that I can use the alias whenever I need a reference back to the containing object.

MyObject = function ()
{
    var self = this;

    // The rest of the code goes here

    self.wait = function(){
        window.setTimeout(self.run ,(1000 * randomNumber(1,5)));
    }
}

Solution 4:

class A{

   setTimeout(()=>{

       // here this != undefined because of arrow function

  },500);

}